What's So Wrong With Cavalettis?
by Sail Away Mayday
Summary: Alice wins six free horseback riding lessons. Riding a horse can't be that hard, can it? Well, that depends on the teacher.
1. Just A Sketch Of Me

**A/N: Hello everyone **** So real life kind of kicked my butt for a little while, and I pulled the story because I wanted to change some things and now here I am, back and hoping to keep this story going. It's basically because of all of my readers who kept asking about this story's progress that I'm continuing. So thank you all, and I hope you enjoy!**

**I own nothing Twilight related. Only the plot and the horses are mine!**

**Chapter 1 – Just a Sketch of Me**

I suppressed a shudder as I stepped out of my impeccably clean Kia Spectra 5. I had not been around any real level of dirt and mud since childhood. And this place was full of it. As I caught a whiff of the air outside of my car, I nearly gagged as I tried to stop breathing entirely. As far as I could remember, I had never smelled anything so _raw _before. I ducked as a fly dive-bombed my face, gasping as I was forced to breathe the country air. It wasn't that I was adverse to rural life, necessarily; it was just that this felt a bit like stepping onto another planet.

What on earth had I gotten myself into?

As I was attempting to remember how to effectively breathe through my mouth, I was able to steal a few glances at my current surroundings. Bella, my future sister-in-law, and present activities manager, had won a raffle that gave her six weeks of free horseback riding lessons at a relatively nearby stable. Being terrified of horses, terrified of heights, and busy planning her wedding to my brother Edward, Bella had given me the tickets as an early birthday present. I'd determined that she was simply trying to force me into some semblance of a normal social creature, and while I would ordinarily be wounded at this obvious betrayal, I had always been spellbound by horses and thus forgave Bella. Just this once though.

The farm was absolutely gorgeous, and I made a mental note to thank Bella significantly. As far as I could see, there were evenly cut green fields, bordered off with crisp criss-crossed black fence, and dotted with horses of every colour. There was a large steel blue barn, also trimmed with a neat black border. There were flowers arranged precisely around the barn and also at the entrance to a large fenced in riding area. I counted eleven brightly coloured obstacles set up in the ring, and I felt my stomach drop in nervous trepidation. I wouldn't be expected to soar over those, would I?

As I was pondering both the intelligence of my plan, and the danger it seemed to be presenting me, I noticed a tall blonde man striding purposefully toward me. He had appeared from a barn that was identical in colour but half the size of the first barn I'd seen, and if his furrowed brow was an accurate indicator, he was annoyed about something. Honestly, all I could really seem to pay attention to was the fact that he was wearing skintight fawn-coloured pants, and that his ass looked fabulous in them.

'Alice Brandon?' he asked when he had gotten closer to me.

'Yep,' I answered quickly, the pants were so distracting that eloquent speech seemed impossible.

For some unknown reason, while my brain faltered, my limbs seemed to work on autopilot, and I bounded toward the stunning man, hand held out. 'Nice to meet you,' I managed to squeak out.

I must seem like such a crazy person.

He faltered just a bit, taken aback by my bipolar-esque behaviour, but then he regained his composure and answered, 'Jasper Whitlock. I'll be your instructor today. You're late, so we need to get started immediately.'

Now it was my turn to be taken aback. All previous thoughts of his eye-catching physique had nearly disappeared with the occurrence of his attitude. How on earth did he figure he had a right to be such an ass?

'What do you mean I'm late?' I checked my watch as I asked my question. 'I was told to be here at eleven o'clock. I'm actually three minutes early!'

I was so indignant that I wanted to cry. I was never late, punctuality was my middle name.

'Well then, you were told incorrectly,' Jasper said unsympathetically, still striding ahead with his back to me, his tall black boots making an even staccato noise on the cement floor. 'Your lesson starts at eleven, but you were supposed to be here a half-hour early to prepare.'

I was jogging to keep up with him. Prepare? What the hell kind of preparation did this entail? Didn't I just get on?

As we stepped into the shade of the smaller barn, I noticed with approval that the smell had improved considerably. I could easily pick out the smell of leather and also something very sweet, like mown grass taken up a notch.

'You are expected to catch your horse yourself, groom and tack up your horse yourself before every lesson,' Jasper told me brusquely. He finally stopped as he finished speaking, and I nearly crashed into him. I felt my cheeks heat up with embarrassment, and decided to play it off.

'Geez, why the sudden stop?' I grumbled, looking at anything but his face.

'This is the horse you'll be riding today,' Jasper announced, nodding toward a wooden door that had a brass number twelve centred at the top. I noticed with a juvenile glee I'd forgotten I had that the name _Trojan_ was what was engraved on the customised nameplate.

'What is _so _funny?' Jasper questioned stiffly, looking over at me like I was absolutely idiotic.

I let loose with giggles. 'The-horse's name-is-_Trojan!_' I managed to get out between peals of laughter.

Jasper looked at me blankly; he seemed unsure of whether I would be fit to continue the lesson or not. 'He came with the name,' Jasper answered matter-of-factly. 'He's a pony, and his owners thought with would be funny to name him after such an imposing figure.'

I actually stopped laughing to stare at him. He clearly didn't share my unconcealed amusement at the horse's name, and I didn't want to dig myself into a deeper hole with my distant, albeit attractive, instructor. 'Wait, isn't a pony a baby horse?' I asked, my attention span of a gnat kicking in full force. 'I don't want to ride a baby horse.'

Jasper actually attempted to mask his feelings of my stupidity this time; I felt quite honoured. 'A _pony_ is a fully grown, smaller version of a horse. A _foal_ is a baby horse,' he said tersely.

Okay. Man, he was good at making people feel like utter shit. Really, the best I'd ever met. So I did what I did best and ignored the current issues. I turned to gaze apprehensively at the fuzzy looking horse in the stall Jasper had pointed out.

'Hi Trojan,' I said, trying hard not to snicker too hard as the tiny horse–sorry, pony–blinked slowly at me, two stalks of hay sticking out of his mouth. It was hard to take him too seriously in this light. I didn't think I'd ever seen something so cute in my entire life.

'Well, go ahead,' Jasper said, motioning to the stall door with his left hand.

I gawked blankly at him, 'Go ahead and what?' What exactly did he expect me to do? I had no intention of going into an enclosed space with a horse, when I'd never been anywhere near a horse before.

'Go ahead and catch him,' Jasper answered in a monotone, 'so you can bring him out and tack him up for your lesson.'

I looked dubiously at Trojan who simply continued munching his hay. How in the hell did one catch a horse? I deduced catching him like a butterfly was out of the question.

'When do I get my lasso?' I asked turning back to Jasper, who wiped away a small smirk when he noticed me watching. He began to stare at me impassively. 'You know,' I said with mock seriousness, I had after all seen at least one western movie before, 'to catch the horse?' I couldn't help it, my snarky side came out when I was nervous, and Jasper Whitlock seemed to be an expert on making me nervous.

'That's what we use a halter for,' Jasper said shortly, handing me a contraption of leather and buckles.

I took the bundle both gratefully and grudgingly, and retorted, 'Well maybe you should make things like that clear to those who obviously don't know any better.'

He looked slightly abashed and I was quite proud of myself until I realised that I had no earthly clue how this halter nonsense was supposed to work. Suddenly, a lasso seemed like a much better idea.

'Here, let me help you with that,' Jasper said in a quiet voice. I was surprised that he was standing beside me, his hands on the halter.

'Sure,' I mumbled, releasing the leather bundle and stepping back. I tried to memorise the exact way that Jasper put the halter on, so I would have no problems the next time. I also tried not to let my smile show through; Jasper needed to be taken down a peg or two, and this was a significant victory.

Twenty-two minutes later, Jasper had placed a saddle on Trojan's back, explaining every step to me, and was getting the horse's headgear–a bridle, he'd clarified–ready, when I asked about equipment for myself.

'Don't I need a helmet or something?' I asked, twirling the silver ring on the right side of my mouth.

Jasper's gaze went from my eyes to my head to my hand in quick succession. 'Yes, you need a helmet. Did you bring a helmet?' His face brightened slightly when he asked, and then he added, 'it's not a bicycle helmet, is it?'

I rolled my eyes. Seriously? What did he take me for? I had the internet at home. 'Nope. I don't have a helmet to my name. Bicycle or otherwise.'

He darted into the room he'd brought the saddle and other contraptions from, and returned seconds later, brandishing an ugly ass white plastic hat.

'Oh, God, please tell me I don't have to wear that,' I said helplessly.

He looked puzzled, and spoke with an emotion I couldn't identify, 'Of course you have to wear this. It's a rule, and it will protect you in case something happens.'

Oh man, now I was going to have one more thing to be terrified about before I even stepped on the horse. Why oh why had I agreed to this again?

'Okay.' I nodded, reaching my hand out for the ugly helmet, and cringing at the thought of the state my hair would be in at the end of this little adventure. It wasn't necessarily that I was overly self-conscious of my looks, but with short spiky hair, wearing headgear of any kind was a risky game.

'You need to lose the, uh,' Jasper motioned weakly toward my mouth with his hand and fumbled over his words. He ran a hand through his disorderly hair and looked at me with a sort of discomfort.

He was quite possibly one of the oddest and most fascinating people I'd ever met.

'My lip rings?' I asked shocked. I hadn't taken them out for more than fifteen minutes since I'd gotten them pierced sixteen months earlier.

'Well yeah,' Jasper answered, 'they're a hazard. If you were to fall or get them tangled somehow, you could rip your whole lip off, and that's not a pleasant sight at all.'

I tugged at the delicate silver hoops again and made the decision that surrendering was both imminent and necessary. 'Where can I put them?' I asked with a bit of an edge to my voice; he didn't have to know I was so ready to comply.

I scurried in the direction he pointed me to, warring with all of the different emotions I was experiencing.

As soon as I made my way back to where Jasper and Trojan were waiting, Jasper began talking in his no-nonsense voice again. I tried to listen attentively, and not focus too much on the fact that I was now realising the attractive side of polo shirts.

'The only other thing you might really need are chaps, but that's really only a necessity for someone who intends to ride long-term or intensely,' he began to say when I'd returned, my lip unbearably barren. 'The shoes you're wearing will do at least for now, they have a decent heel. You can get other boots that are made specifically for riding, but again, long term.'

I nodded, digging my hands into my pockets and trying to take in everything he was saying.

'Are you ready?' Jasper asked, nodding toward Trojan who was still standing tolerantly.

'Lead the way,' I said, trying to regain a chipper mind-set. I stood motionless beside the pony and looked at Jasper expectantly.

'It's your lesson,' Jasper told me, his infuriating smirk back on his face. 'You get to walk with Trojan. Follow me.'

His attitude was beginning to drive me crazy. Didn't he realise I didn't have a clue how to do any of these things that he took for granted? So I simply stood there, arms crossed, and staring at his back.

'You hold the reins in both hands, stand by his left shoulder, and just walk. He'll follow you. Now come on, we don't have a limitless amount of time,' he called to me, never slowing down and never turning back.

I glared at his back, at the ugly shade of red that his shirt was. God, red was such a disgusting colour. Then I recognized that I was winning no pissing contests just standing in the middle of the barn like a moron. I choked back a snort of disdain, looked at Trojan warily, and tentatively tugged on the rein. I almost laughed out loud with mad glee as the pony followed me without a hint of hesitation, and I hurried to follow Jasper before he disappeared.

'Now, is this anything like the movies?' I asked wittily. 'Cause I'm not gonna lie, it looks pretty easy there.'

'Nothing at all like the movies,' Jasper answered, his trademark colourless tone back in place. He fiddled around with straps on the saddle and didn't look at me.

I rolled my eyes, and couldn't believe we were doing this nonsense again. Couldn't he just pick an emotional atmosphere and stay there?

'Now, everything with horses is done on the left side,' Jasper was saying, done with his fiddling and back into instruction mode. 'It's from the old days when the cavalry was the basic reason people learned how to ride horses.'

I straightened up, attempted to look completely serious, and only fidgeted with my bottom lip a tiny bit.

Jasper looked over at me to make sure I was listening to his satisfaction; when he saw that I was he continued, 'Anytime you get on or off a horse, it is to be done from the left side. Do you understand?'

I nodded vigorously; it seemed like a simple enough rule. I had always been good at telling left from right.

'Well go ahead and mount,' Jasper directed, motioning at Trojan.

'If it isn't like the movies, then how do I go about this mounting business?' I responded instantly, feeling my patience with him grow thinner and thinner with each assumption. I could tell that he was trying to prove my inexperience; he couldn't have made that point any clearer. I just didn't understand why. He was a riding trainer for God's sake. Didn't he spend all day with people who didn't have the slightest clue about horses? Why was I so different?

Jasper's face changed again as he took in my expression and exactly what it meant. 'Of course,' he said, a small amount of shame in his voice, 'I forget sometimes that not everyone knows these things.'

He was lying. I could tell this with no effort at all. Realising this fact did little more than make my more annoyed than I already was. I tried to put aside my frustrations and follow his coaching about the art of getting myself into the saddle.

'You need to put your left foot in the stirrup first,' Jasper said now, talking more to the gleaming leather saddle than to me. 'Then you grab a handful of mane, and—'

'–doesn't that hurt him?' I blurted out, unable to contain my surprise. I'd be damned if anyone would _ever_ be pulling on my hair. And Trojan looked as if killing me would hardly involve any sort of effort.

I saw Jasper roll his eyes faintly, and I clenched my fists in response. It was a perfectly valid freaking question.

'No. It doesn't hurt him at all. He's too big for something so inconsequential to bother him,' Jasper continued, not missing a beat. 'You grab a chunk of mane to support your weight, and your other hand needs to hold the reins with some degree of security to prevent the horse from moving. Then you jump a few times to gain momentum, and you swing your right leg over the saddle, right yourself, and you should be good to go. Any questions?'

I shook my head to let him know I understood, and I looked square at the chocolate brown pony, and was that much more convinced that I had to get this perfectly right on my first try. I had to show Jasper that I was much more capable than he was giving me credit for, and that these six weeks of riding lessons would be a blur.

My plan would have worked perfectly if I had remembered to check Trojan's girth as Jasper had told me when he put the saddle on the round pony. Had I remembered that tiny detail, I probably wouldn't have ended up landing on my ass in the dirt, with Jasper standing above me biting his lip to keep from laughing hysterically.

I sighed as I put my car into park in its designated parking space. The house looked quiet and lonely, but I knew otherwise. The silver Volvo parked next to me meant that Edward and Bella were inside, waiting no doubt to question me about my adventure.

The problem was, I didn't really know what to tell them. I didn't know how I felt about the whole situation. I'd had a tremendous amount of fun riding, once I'd dusted myself off and been able to properly get on the horse. The experience was definitely something I couldn't wait to repeat.

But Jasper, well Jasper's involvement had thrown such a huge loop in the mix that I couldn't fully understand.

Seeing Jasper again was something else I couldn't wait to replicate, and I couldn't figure out why I wanted to see him at all. He was a douche, in the douche-iest kind of way possible.

As I was internally theorising my illogical desire to be in Jasper's presence again, I noticed the curtain in the living room's picture shift slightly. I grimaced a tiny bit when I realised that Edward and Bella were sitting in the house watching my inner debate.

I unlocked my seatbelt and reached over to open the car door. When I looked up at the window again, the curtain was still.

The tidy, two-story townhouse had been Edward's for nearly two years now. He'd moved to Maryland and to this house a year after he'd graduated from college and started a new job as a pharmacist. Bella got a job as a newspaper columnist at a small but well respected local paper, and moved in with Edward when he'd surprised her with a key. They'd lived together in perfect domestic bliss until I'd graduated from college a year later and promptly realised the uselessness of a degree in theatre. I'd had absolutely no luck in being hired anywhere but menial part-time jobs, and Edward couldn't resist the urge to shelter his helpless baby sister from the perils of homelessness, or crummy apartments in squalor at the very least.

It was an arrangement that worked fairly comfortably for the most part. I made up places to go and things to do on special occasions, and invested in a fantastic pair of headphones for every other night.

Four feet from the front door, as I was pulling out my keys, the door opened and Bella popped out. 'Alice!' she squealed, upon seeing me. She wasted no time and prompted, 'Well, how was it?'

I couldn't help but laugh. Edward couldn't have picked a better girl to fall in love with. If I didn't know any better, I say she was destined to be my sister. 'I'm not even in the house yet, Bella. Eager much?'

She faked a pout. 'Can you really blame me? I've been here all morning, trying to decide whether or not the wedding invitations look better in cream or egg-shell. I still maintain that they're the same colour, but what do I know. I'm just the—'

'You're babbling, babe,' I reminded her, giggling now at the look on her face. She blushed and held the door open for me.

'Dinner's getting cold. And Edward and I want to hear all about your equestrian adventures.'

I snorted inelegantly, and preceded her into the door. 'You're such a dork.'

'Watch who you're calling a dork,' Edward's smooth voice warned as he walked up the hallway. He was trying to be serious, but when he stopped a few feet in front of me, I could see his self-control dissipating. 'Glad to see you made it home in one piece,' he said with amused expression.

'I'm fairly resilient,' I retorted back, dropping my jacket on the floor next to the front door. Bella made a face at my blatant act of disorder, but wisely said nothing. I could tell she was positively bursting at the seams to find out everything she could about my introduction to the world of horseback riding. I wanted to talk about anything but what had transpired at the beautiful farm.

Before I could open my mouth and think up an excuse to get Bella off my back for a little bit longer, Edward interrupted my conflicting musings expertly. He turned away from where Bella stood, still looking at me expectantly, and announced, 'You reek, Alice. That's quite possibly the worst I've ever known you to smell. And I mean that quite honestly.'


	2. Something To Startle

**A/N: I want to thank everyone who took the time to review the previous chapter; it's really great to know that people are enjoying this. That also makes it much easier to keep writing ;)**

**I will be sending a teaser to anyone who reviews this chapter, so let me know what you think! And I still own nothing but the ponies!**

**Chapter 2 - Something To Startle**

Bella looked at me expectantly as she carried a steaming and deliciously smelling dish to the table. Edward had forks in one hand and knives in the other, as he hurried to set the places before all of the food was ready. I sat in my seat and did absolutely nothing.

I sighed and began fiddling with the silver rings on either side of my bottom lip. I'd hurried to put them back in as soon as I'd gotten Trojan back in the barn. I tried desperately to think of anything but Jasper's reaction to my haste in reapplying metal to my face. Edward was entirely too perceptive for his own good, and I didn't t need him trying to analyse whatever I was feeling in relation to Jasper before I'd even been able to properly figure it out.

"All right then," Bella said impatiently, "you've had time to relax and all that, so now you can spill. Tell us everything!"

I laughed at her exuberance. "It wasn't that epic an event, Bella," I said shaking slightly now from the laughter, "I enjoyed myself, though, and I'm looking forward to next week."

Edward snickered from his chair, and Bella glared playfully at him before saying, "Don't be pissy, Alice. It's not every day that someone I know becomes a horseback rider."

I snorted into my napkin in what I hoped was a remotely ladylike fashion. "I'm not even close to being any sort of a rider," I retorted, only partly joking, "I hit the ground before I even made it into the saddle."

Edward collapsed into a fit of barely contained merriment, managing only a squeak as he said, "You mean you've already fallen off? Geez, that didn't take long, did it? You're almost as bad as Bella."

Bella looked daggers at him for a moment, though I could detect no real seriousness in her gaze. "Be nice to your sister," she warned in the biggest tough girl voice she could muster, then tacked on, "and to me, too."

"Well, it turns out that Trojan, the pony I rode, likes to hold his breath when the girth gets tightened," I explained, twirling my lip rings and thinking of Jasper's captivating and callous face, "and when you go to get on he lets it all out and the saddle slides."

Edward lost his composure—whatever little bit he had left—completely, and nearly began convulsing. "You rode a _Trojan!_" he managed to get out between gasps of breath, "first time?"

"They're making you ride a _baby?"_ Bella interjected at the same time, her voice nearly overlapping Edward's. She had the most incredulous look on her face for about two seconds and then she collapsed into manic giggling with Edward.

I simply shook my head, muttered, "you two are freaking insane," and diverted my attention to the food in front of me.

With a sigh of relief, I closed my bedroom door soundly behind me and pulled my sweatshirt over my head. I was looking forward to a hot shower and to sitting down at my computer for the remainder of the night. I was pleased to notice that Bella and Edward were quiet for the moment, and hoped the peace would continue. Quiet time was something I was desperately seeking at the moment, mostly for my frazzled thoughts.

I trudged forward between the maze that was the floor of my room, shedding articles of clothing as I went. I could still faintly smell the earthy horsy smell that lingered in my clothing; it didn't bother me nearly as much as it had earlier today, and I found that almost odd.

After I'd grabbed a clean towel, I sifted through a laundry basket of clean clothes until I found a pair of lounge pants and a tank top. I headed into the bathroom, intent on complete relaxation.

I didn't find the sort of peace I was looking for under the stream of hot water. I could feel aches and knots forming that I hadn't even been aware of, and I was happy that the water at least helped with those.

My mind was on overdrive, the thoughts and pictures spinning madly; the water did nothing in that regard. I couldn't understand the flood of activity and I couldn't pinpoint what had been so monumental in the day.

Somehow I knew that Jasper was the reason for my frenzied state. I didn't like him—he was a blatant ass, but I couldn't stop thinking of the events of the day and I couldn't wait to go back in a week.

As I turned off the water and stepped out, I came to the conclusion that I was so bothered by Jasper's presence because I hadn't been able to read him the way I usually read people.

Ever since I had been old enough to meet and make friends, I'd been exceptionally good at telling people's true intentions. Edward had believed me almost immediately, unlike most everyone else I knew. He'd asked my input on Bella almost the minute he'd met her. My instinct had never led me astray. But now Jasper had become a part of my life in some crazy way, no matter how insignificant a way it seemed initially. And I wasn't sure how to continue dealing with the situation.

Jasper was not a bad person, I was certain of it; there wasn't a mean bone in his body. But he also was, without a doubt, acting like the biggest asshole I'd ever met. He used his pseudo-hostile attitude to hide something, some part of him. I wondered what, as I dressed for bed and retreated to my computer screen.

It really shouldn't have surprised me when I spent an hour on a series of horse related sites before I did anything else.

"You're excited about Monday, aren't you?" Bella asked, innocently enough.

I couldn't ignore the perceptive look she was sporting, and I knew I couldn't lie to her at all. I nodded slowly, and turned my attention to the toaster. It briefly occurred to me that watched toast toasted as well as watched pots boiled, before Bella's voice broke my concentration.

"I'm glad you're doing this, Alice," she said quietly. "I think it'll be good for you. Edward does too." Her voice was smooth, comforting, and insightful. I hated every minute of it. This part was the only thing I couldn't stand about living with my brother and his fiancée. They always assumed my life needed fixing when in actuality, I was fine.

I shot her a look, the same look she had been receiving for years every time she used _the voice_ and she backed away, running her fingers through her long brown hair.

"All right," Bella said evenly, giving me the victory for the moment. "Are you working today?" she asked, looking over my pyjamas and dishevelled hair speculatively.

"Yep," I said dryly, "Cotton candy and lemonade for all."

I could tell she wanted to add something, to tell me how I needed a better job—a real job—and I was glad she thought twice. I had been working at my dead end job, a local carnival, for six months now to pay the bills that I had. It was a far cry from what I'd always envisioned myself doing, but I figured beggars couldn't be choosers, and I was happy to at least have a job.

"Have a good day, Alice," Bella said quietly, sweetness seeping in, "I'll see you tonight."

I nodded, grabbed my toast and a cup of tea, and headed back to my room.

I hesitated before turning the engine off as I looked around the almost empty parking lot at the barn. I reasoned with myself I needed to hear the rest of the wonderful song that had come on my iPod, but I also knew that I was nervous. And stalling. I didn't know what I wanted to do, in all honesty. Running seemed just as appealing an option as staying and showing Jasper up.

After a minute or so the song ended, and my defiantly strong mind-set vanished with it. I saw no other alternative but to face the music, so to speak.

I took a deep breath to quell the anxiety in my stomach. It didn't do much of anything, and I had no choice but to open the door and force myself out onto the gravel.

The day was absolutely beautiful, and I couldn't help but grin. I'd spent my childhood in urban environments, had gone to college in the middle of a good sized metropolis, and now lived on the outskirts of a metropolitan area. I'd had no need to venture outside of city limits. This level of rural living was hard for me to comprehend, even though I really wasn't that far from civilisation. It was the openness that was so startling. Well, that and the smell which I still wasn't really used to.

I couldn't deny that it was absolutely breathtaking out here and in some strange way that I couldn't understand, I felt awakened.

I pushed the sleeves of my sweatshirt up to my elbows as I walked, thankful for the weak warmth of the March sun. After moving across the country from Washington State, sun was a strange concept.

I noticed the deserted nature of the farm, and wondered where everyone was. It was my thought that a farm this big should be a tad more occupied. It was ten-thirty on a Monday morning, so I didn't figure people were sleeping in or anything. It also occurred to me that Jasper hadn't shown up yet to begin his disapproving glances and off-colour remarks. Last time, he'd shown up exactly when I'd arrived, as if he'd had a sixth sense.

I shrugged, felt slightly stupid for shrugging when I was completely by myself, and headed toward the barn where Trojan lived. It was as good a place as any to start I reasoned.

The air was cool and the atmosphere completely calm inside the smaller barn. All I could hear was the occasional horse chewing calmly, and the whooshing breaths of a barn full of horses.

I passed by two rooms on either side of me that held supplies and not horses, and peeked in looking for Jasper. I saw no sign of him or anyone else, and moved on to the other two rooms.

Realising that I was still alone in the barn, I moved into the space that was occupied by horses. Trojan's stall was directly in front of me, across the wide aisle way, so I walked quietly to see him, sticking my fingers through the metal bars on his door for him to sniff.

He didn't seem at all concerned with me, and only eyeballed me softly, his long chocolate tail swishing rhythmically and quietly. I chuckled and whispered, "I guess I'll see you later, huh pony?"

Trojan did not respond, and I looked both ways down the empty barn aisle before deciding to head right and to the bigger barn.

The second barn was far fancier than I ever expected a barn to be. I had to stop just inside the entrance just to gape open mouthed for a few minutes.

While my head swivelled around to take in the surroundings, I felt the lack of people as well. Until my gaze landed on the one person I'd seen at the farm all day.

Standing a few feet in front of me, in the middle of the spotless aisle way, was a gorgeous blonde girl. She was standing with her back to me, and I took in her long perfectly styled hair and form-fitting high-end outfit. I breathed a sigh of admiration and continued staring as the girl began cooing to the black horse she was standing next to.

"Why don't you come down here and say hello instead of just gawking," the girl's lovely voice drifted down the barn, shocking me. I was embarrassed that she had caught me looking like some sort of manic stalker.

"Okay," I answered, my voice quavering slightly. The stunning girl intimidated me; her horse alone was one of the most exquisite that I'd seen. I was fairly confident that she was a phenomenal rider. I could tell by the way that she moved around the horse that she knew almost as much as Jasper.

"You're new here," she observed matter of factly, glancing at me vaguely before returning to her jet-black horse.

"I am," I answered, wrapping my arms around my chest when a cold breeze blew through the barn.

"Aren't you the raffle winner?" she asked again. Without waiting for my response, the girl leaned down and ran a perfectly manicured hand down the horse's leg. The horse picked his leg up smoothly, not missing a beat. I watched as the girl held his foot in one hand while wielding a shaped metal tool in the other.

"What are you doing?" I asked, very close to breathless. The metal tool looked dangerous next to the horse's foot.

"I'm picking out his hooves," she answered evenly, not stopping what she was doing. "Do you have your first lesson today?"

"No, last week. I've got the second one today," I told her, trying to pay extra attention to how she used the metal pick. This was one pop quiz I could reasonably pass.

She lightly set the horse's foot down, wiped her hands delicately on her pants, and fixed me with a cool gaze. "That's surprising," she said evenly, "usually Jasper goes over things like that from day one."

"Oh, well, I got a late start on my first lesson."

"You didn't get here thirty minutes early?" she asked curiously.

I shrugged, feeling humiliation creep up, "nobody told me."

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for your lesson anyway?" the girl asked, "instead of wandering around. Just a heads up, but some of the people who keep their horses here don't like that."

"I can't find anyone,' I answered her, 'so that's why I ended up in here."

"I don't know where Jasper is," Rosalie mused, chewing on her bottom lip thoughtfully. "I haven't seen him yet. But that's not too uncommon. Who knows what's been going on around here."

I felt a surge of disappointment swirl through my body and I quickly tried to squelch it before it became outwardly noticeable. "Well thanks for all your help. It was nice to meet you," I told her, trying to smile cheerfully.

"Well, we didn't really meet," the girl told me, a light smile playing on her lips. She held out her hand and said, "I'm Rosalie Hale. And this is Zoom." Rosalie patted the big horse affectionately.

I grinned and took Rosalie's hand. 'I'm Alice Brandon,' I told her, "its nice meet both of you."

"You wanna help me out until Jasper makes an appearance," Rosalie asked, handing me a brush.

"Sure," I responded, happy to be given a job and eager to learn as much as possible.

I started moving the brush up Zoom's neck, paying extra attention to the coarser strands of hair that stood almost straight up from his neck.

"Not like that," Rosalie coached, reaching her hand out for the brush.

I handed it over, and watched patiently as she showed me the proper technique.

"You have to use quick, flicking motions with your wrist," she told me, demonstrating on her horse's coat. I watched with rapt fascination as the brush shook loose dust from Zoom's coat and left behind a glimmering sheen.

I nodded seriously and ran my tongue over my bottom lip, hardly frowning at the empty holes there. "Thanks for showing me, Rosalie," I told her cheerily, taking back the brush, and continuing down the horse's neck.

Rosalie gracefully made her way around Zoom, and began brushing his shoulder. "Do you like it so far?"

"The riding?"

"Yeah," Rosalie answered, still concentrating on her horse, 'I mean, I know you just barely started.'

I smiled, and opened my mouth to respond when a rhythmic tapping further down the barn aisle made my breath catch in my throat.

"Alice!" Jasper called sharply; his voice was so unexpected that I had to jump aside to avoid being stepped on when Zoom reacted to the tension.

Rosalie gasped, moved to steady Zoom, and glared at Jasper all in one fluid motion.

Jasper acted as if she hadn't been standing there at all and focused all his attention on me. "You were supposed to be getting ready for a lesson ten minutes ago," he boomed, "you're not even permitted in this barn. Let's go!"

I wanted to punch him in his goddamn asshole face. I wanted to scream and rage at him until I was hoarse. I wanted to not let him see me cry.

**A/N: So, what was your favourite part?**


	3. And Now I Want To Be Alone

**Chapter 3 –And Now I Want To Be Alone**

**Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or added this story to story alert. Your reactions and words really help **** I am getting married in just over two weeks, so my time is a little crunched at the moment, but I am working on chapter four as I write this, and I hope to have it out soon. Thanks so much!**

I stared stubbornly at the plastic step stool by the arena fence. Jasper had told me the week before that it was called a mounting block. Today he hadn't spoken a word to me since he'd made a scene in front of Rosalie.

I gave a gentle tug on Trojan's reins, and walked toward the block with steady determination. The unruffled pony kept up without complaint. He'd been here and done this so many times that I figured a bomb could go off next to him and he wouldn't blink.

Jasper scrutinised me from his vantage point in the centre of the freshly raked ring, and I silently willed Trojan to be on his best behaviour. I had to get this right today.

When I had stopped Trojan at the plastic block, I quickly hurried to check his girth on the side where Jasper couldn't see my face. As soon as I was invisible to Jasper's caustic gaze, I ran my hand across Trojan's satiny shoulder and willed him to be perfect. I tried to check the tightness of the girth with as little effort as I'd seen Jasper manage it earlier. The broad leather piece was quite similar to a belt, and while I had at first balked at the idea of tightening Trojan's horsey belt so much that I couldn't fit two fingers between it and his side, falling on my butt had changed my mind drastically.

"Do you need help with that?" Jasper asked from across the ring. His voice was not at all concerned.

"No," I practically growled, my teeth clenched painfully. I could do this, and I could do it without his help.

Jasper didn't make a sound, but I could feel the arrogance radiating across the open space.

This of course, did nothing for my already tenuous confidence, but I continued to attempt to convince myself that I was the victor in this situation.

Trojan kept up with his constant stream of patience as he stood perfectly still while I carried on my silly internal debate. When I'd finally decided that enough was enough, I grabbed a handful of his course mane in my left hand, stuck my right hand on the back on the saddle, and shoved my left foot into the metal stirrup. After a few awkward hops, I managed to swing myself into the saddle without a complete lack of grace.

I was ecstatic. I had done it; I had conquered some part of this world! Maybe not on my first try, but certainly quicker than I imagined it must take some people. I quickly looked over in Jasper's direction to grin triumphantly.

He wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to my sensational success. "Walk around the perimeter of the ring, make sure he stays on the rail; don't let him cut in," he barked out in his no nonsense teaching voice.

I wondered if he'd ever made little kids cry before. I wanted so badly to make a smart-assed comment, but felt like I had lost my voice. Instead I reached my hand down and scratched Trojan's neck slightly, trying my hardest not to let my frustration and disbelief become visible. Then again, I was pretty sure Jasper had some sort of super hero power that sensed fear.

I gritted my teeth in annoyance and concentration, and gathered the leather reins up in my hands. I tried to sit up as straight as I could, and I firmly commanded Trojan to begin walking. I tried to synchronize squeezing both of my legs against the stubborn pony's sides, and he grudgingly moved off the pressure.

I felt another surge of pride at myself, but was quickly distracted as I remembered how complicated riding really was. I was relieved that I had been graced with natural balance and coordination.

As I continued around the ring, I proceeded to get lost further and further in thought. I was enjoying everything I was learning, enjoying the stead rhythm of the horse beneath me.

The insecurities and reservations that I had about the whole endeavour revolved around Jasper and his affinity for making people feel like complete shit.

There was a part of me that wanted to turn tail and run. I didn't want to be in a situation where I consistently felt worse about myself than usual. At the same time though, I'd gone my whole life without ever really accomplishing anything. Every whim I'd ever tried to act on had ended in a less than spectacular way. I figured finished six weeks of lessons was the best compromise I could possibly come up with. I could successfully finish my course of lessons, learn something new – something that I enjoyed quite a bit – and I supposed I could deal with Jasper for that long.

"Alice!" Jasper called across the ring.

His sharp, sudden voice surprised me, and Trojan executed a swift stop at my body's abrupt tenseness.

"Change direction and come back to the centre!"

I attempted to collect my thoughts, and focused on delivering the correct cues to the indifferent pony beneath me. As Trojan plodded across the neatly raked sand, I felt a comical parallel to the one time I'd been called to the principal's office in high school. The walk of shame, such interesting comparisons I came up with.

Jasper watched me studiously as I attempted to wipe the image from my mind and the amused look on my face.

"Something funny?" he asked in a clipped tone that told me something had better not be funny at all.

I couldn't stand him. I desperately tried to think of something to say, some witty retort, but the words just wouldn't come.

When my voice did return, I let myself down, and all I could muster was a bland, "Nothing at all."

Jasper turned away and barked out a command for me to continue around the ring.

I ducked my head and tried to keep the teardrops in my eyes. There was no way I could keep doing this, I hadn't been made to feel like this in years and I had made a promise to not revisit those times.

I smiled with satisfaction, pleased with myself for successfully getting Trojan back in his stall. He looked at me much like he always did, with hay hanging out of his mouth and a bored expression. I grinned and blew him a kiss, which he predictably didn't respond to.

As soon as I turned to walk back to my car, I reached for my phone and realised it wasn't in its home in my pocket. I tried to control my racing mind long enough to attempt to remember where I had last placed it. Racing through the activities I had done and the places I had been during the day, I remembered with relief that I had placed it on one of the storage containers lining the barn when I'd met Rosalie.

Shit. The barn. The other barn. The one that Jasper had explicitly told me I wasn't welcome in.

But I needed my phone. Bella had been cursed with an inability to walk more than a few feet without messing it up, and my shortcoming had been a penchant for losing cell phones. I absolutely did not want to walk into the house with my phone again; Edward had a better father guilt routine than my actual father.

While I tried to push down the feelings of apprehension, I marched my sore little self into the barn that was forbidden. I tried not to let my nerves overcome me, and I hoped Rosalie would still be standing in the aisle.

The barn was, of course, absolutely empty when I ventured in. I couldn't hear a single sound as I crept into a side door. My plan had been that a side door approach would give me more of a chance of seeing people in the barn before I could be spotted.

I cracked a smile when my plan appeared to work as I tip-toed around the quiet barn.

The intense organisation of the barn had me distracted, so when a horse snorted directly to my right, I gasped so fast that I almost choked on my breath. I managed not to fall ass-over-teakettle and regain proper breathing; I hoped no one had witnessed or heard my retardation. I was a massive espionage fail. It was a good thing I had always favoured Porsches over Aston Martins.

Dragging myself out of my ridiculous inner musings, I caught sight of the horse and nearly choked again.

She was the most magnificent horse I'd ever seen. Her face was so refined and feminine that I couldn't imagine her being anything but a girl. Her soft doe eyes appraised me quietly.

'Come here, gorgeous,' I whispered, holding my hand out and instinctively stepped toward the stall door.

The rich brown colour of her coat melted perfectly into black around her eyes, ears, and muzzle. There was a perfectly symmetrical strip of white that came down her the middle of her face, starting above her eyes and disappearing under her lip. The bit of white between her nostrils showed pink skin, and when I reached my hand out I was amazed at how soft it was.

The horse lost interest with me, and retreated back into her stall, dragging her nose through the yellow hay that filled her stall. I was so reminded of a bloodhound hot on the trail that I had to throw my hand over my mouth to contain the giggles.

When I was no longer shaking from squelched laughter, I became captivated once again by the horse. She seemed to be nothing but long legs, and her body was perfectly proportioned. Flashes of white caught my eye from her legs as she continued to circle her stall. She looked like an athlete, and I could easily have seen her as a human gymnast.

As I lounged against the stall door, admiring the horse, I noticed her halter hanging by the stall door and froze. There was a shining brass nameplate screwed into the leather piece, and the top line told me that her name was Chavalina. The second line read Jasper Whitlock.

This was Jasper's horse.

I shook off the shock and turned to continue looking for my phone. I was semi-terrified that Jasper would show up again in the barn, and not so gently escort me out. My thought wandered then to Jasper's horse. I wondered when he rode her, and what they did. I could see him being knowledgeable enough to ride effectively, but I didn't see him possessing an ounce of the empathy that I thought riding required.

As I turned the corner of the barn, I was both relieved and dismayed to see that the wide aisle was empty. I'd hoped that Rosalie would still be there and that she'd both have my phone and my back in case of a Jasper sighting.

"Damn," I whispered to myself before I made my way down to check each trunk for my missing phone.

When I had gotten halfway down the row of stalls, a quiet voice called out, "Are you looking for this?" I was effectively scared half to death for the second time in ten minutes.

"Whadya want!" I gasped, clutching my chest and whirling to face my intruder.

She was a sweet looking woman with caramel hair, and she was holding my phone in her hand.

"Jesus Christ at a corn husking bee!" I wheezed out, still holding my hand over my heart and trying to breathe normally.

The woman laughed cheerfully, and I felt instantly more at ease. She continued holding the phone out until I felt silly and took it.

"Thanks," I mumbled, and then added, "I'm not supposed to be in here, I'd better go."

The woman chuckled again, more sincere this time, "And who told you that?"

I looked down at my shoes, and answered, "Jasper."

This time she laughed more uproariously. I couldn't help but crack a small smile. When she had gotten her mirth under control she said, "Jasper Whitlock has a huge stick up his ass sometimes, he shouldn't behave the way he sometimes does, even if he has a halfway decent reason to be angry; don't let him get to you."

I threw my hand over my mouth to quench the laughter, but really my mind was whirling over the new information. I guess I had supposed in some way that there was some sort of reason, I had already decided that he wasn't completely a lost cause. I wanted to ask Esme more, to grill her on everything Jasper, but I wanted her friendship more than I wanted to pry. "I'm Alice Brandon," I announced, holding my hand out to her once my glee had been sufficiently suppressed, "I think I really like you."

The woman smiled brightly, her heart shaped face lighting up. "Esme Platt," she responded, grasping my hand in hers and shaking, "it's nice to meet you." As she was speaking, a copper coloured nose appeared over Esme's shoulder and I grinned.

"Who's this?" I asked, pointing to the newest arrival.

Esme placed a kiss on the horse's nose and happily told me, "This is Guinevere. Gwen for short."

I reached out a hand to pet Gwen's face and smiled, "she's beautiful."

Thank you,' Esme answered, stroking Gwen's face lovingly. "I've had her since I was a teenager. She's the best friend I've ever had."

I smiled warmly. "I don't think I've ever had a friend last that long. People always seem pretty fickle." In truth, I felt pretty desolate when Esme talked about her horse. I'd had friends in high school, and I'd made friends in college, but no one had ever stuck. The closest things I had to friends were Edward and Bella, and even that was an often tenuous relationship.

I realised that I had been so excited to begin riding because I was eager to be a part of something; to have a place. So far it hadn't worked at all: Jasper was a moody ass and Trojan was so ambivalent it was almost depressing. Rosalie and Esme gave me a ray of hope to grasp onto, but such things had let me down before. I wondered if I would ever find myself in a partnership with a horse. I'd never seen Rosalie or Esme ride, so I really had nothing to base my musings on, but I figured they were each an equal part of their respective horses. I found myself desperately wanting that connection.

Suddenly I pulled myself out of my reverie and noticed Esme looking at me with an anticipatory and devilish grin. "Glad you could re-join us here on Planet Earth."

My smile was tinged with embarrassment when I answered, "Sorry. I spaced out there for a bit."

"I'll say," Esme chuckled; looking at me like she knew there was more happening than what I was letting on.

"So what do you do with Gwen?" I asked brightly, trying to quickly and thoroughly change the subject.

Esme's face changed brightly in preparation of a conversation centred on her beloved horse, but I wasn't foolish enough to think I was off the hook.

"Mainly we just pleasure ride these days," Esme answered, reaching back to scratch under Gwen's muzzle. "But we've gotten into driving in the last few years. You know, like pulling a cart. We used to be a lot more active, back when she was a lot quicker and more agile and I was fearless and bounced better. I used to compete with her regularly, but we've slowed down a lot."

"Compete?" I asked confused. "Compete in what?"

"Oh, we mainly did eventing. It's the sport they feature in the summer Olympics. It basically descends from the old cavalry days, it showcases the training those horses had to go through. I'll show you all about it one day. I promise," she winked at me when she had finished talking, and I found myself even more impressed by her friendly attitude.

"Wow, that's pretty exciting," I answered, and truly I was in awe. I couldn't imagine willingly sitting in a carriage that was strapped to a horse, or training for cavalry anything.

"Yeah, she's a pretty remarkable mare." Esme was still looking at Gwen adoringly. I was amazed to see that Gwen had not moved from her spot at Esme's shoulder during our conversation. Her devotion reminded me of the _Lassie_ re-runs I'd watched as a child.

"Wait, what's a mare?" I asked suddenly, hating it when I didn't know the meaning of a word.

Esme looked at me curiously, but easily answered, "A mare is a female horse that's full grown, usually older than four or five. A filly is a female under four or five."

"Oh," I said, feeling stupid all over again. "What do you call the boys?"

Esme chortled, but seemed genuinely happy to be teaching me something. "A colt is a young male, a stallion is an older male, and a gelding is a…well, a not-quite-a-boy, of any age."

"That's easy enough to remember, I think," I replied, trying not to feel overwhelmed at how much there was to learn.

"Don't worry," Esme told me reassuringly, "you'll be picking up the lingo before you know it. You'll be talking about cavessons and cavalettis sooner than you know."

I didn't know what either of the terms meant, and I hoped it wouldn't be too much longer until I did know. "Here's hoping," I told her, holding a hand up and intertwining two of my fingers.

"Well, it was lovely meeting you, Alice," Esme said finally, reaching for a lead rope that hung on Gwen's door, "but I've got to get this girl out for exercise and I'm sure you're anxious to get home."

I quickly looked down at the clock on my phone and was surprised to realise I would be at least an hour later getting home than I'd told Edward and Bella. "Crap," I muttered, "yeah I do need to get going. Hopefully I'll see you around here though."

"Yes, I'll be here," Esme told me before adding, "and keep your chin up, Alice. Jasper has his own scars, even if they're invisible to the rest of us, but don't give up too quickly. Things have a way of working out in the best way for everyone."

**So, what do you guys think Jasper is up to?**


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